The Bass Geek

Radio Radio returns to the era of the variety show with La Vida Variety tonight – the lineup includes comedy, magic, burlesque, and music from The Last Domino and Lord of the Yum Yum. This, my friends, is truly an odd and compelling collection of entertainment. The only thing that would make it better is watching all of them get out of a clown car driven by my bulldog.

Deano’s Vino has the album release party for Andrew Resborough tonight. While I’m sure they have music tomorrow as well, there’s no mention on the website yet. Check the link for more information.

The Vollrath Tavern features the Suburban Home Records Tour with Austin Lucas, Two Cow Garage and Mike Hale tonight. Tomorrow, check out Exorcism for all of your EBM, Industrial, Goth and Glam music needs. Think of this as the ramp-up to Gen Con – it’s only two weeks away!

Big Car has the New Madrid Faults, Accordions and Everbody Sunday at 7pm. That’s a big Sunday show for them, and it features a Ropeadope recording artist represented on the sampler I told you about last week.

Finally, there’s live jazz at Maria’s Pizza Friday and Saturday night. Enjoy!

The new IMN podcast is up – download it here or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

The logo is up on the window for The Hero House, a comic/manga/music/clothing/cultural ephemera store that looks to be opening August 12, according to their Facebook page. Welcome to the neighborhood – I’m looking forward to wandering through your inventory, and I think Fountain Square has needed a shop like this for a long time.

Depending on where you are in the city, you may have noticed a rarity in Indianapolis – a new radio station on a new frequency (I’m discounting the merry-go-round of formats you may hear on certain frequencies). After many years of planning and obtaining equipment, 91.9 WITT is on the air and broadcasting a mix of local and international programming. Even more of a rarity is WITT’s request for local music to showcase on their airwaves (joining WFYI’s HD2 and specialty shows on WICR, WTTS and WRZX as the broadcast outlets for local music in Indianapolis amidst the multitude of remotely programmed musical wallpaper on the rest of the stations).

The stations I mentioned previously most certainly do their part to support music from Indianapolis, and the addition of WITT isn’t a slight to their efforts at all. What makes WITT special is that it’s a full-time music station soliciting this material from the beginning, while the others are already established media outlets. A multiplicity of voices is always a good thing. And featuring local content is one of the only ways broadcast media can thrive – by forming a strong, locally supported voice that understands, draws from and supports their community.

Enough philosophizing. If you’re interested in getting your music featured on WITT, send your CDs to:

WITT
PO Box 20563
Indianapolis, IN 46220

Remember, the public airwaves are still governed by the FCC, so no profanity, please. And remember to support WITT and the other media outlets I mentioned above (especially WFYI, proud broadcasters of the IMN Podcast).

The folks at Propellerheads recently lifted the “veil of silence” on beta testing for their new Record software, so now’s as good a time as any to talk about my experience with the software. The creators seem intent on pointing out that it’s not traditional digital audio workstation software, and to some extent, they’re correct. The software records audio through a mockup of an SSL console, but it doesn’t accept external VST, AU, or other plug-ins like Logic, Cakewalk or Pro Tools. I don’t think I’d necessarily want to use it to record multiple audio tracks of a large band with a drum kit, multiple guitars, a horn section, and the like (although it probably should handle it). If I was doing work like that, I’d probably be sending it off for others to work with, and they’d want a Pro Tools project. I’d also be a professional audio engineer, and I’m not that at all. What it does offer is a stable, reliable audio recording experience for those who already use Reason and want to record audio in conjunction with that soft synth sequencer.

I used Record to alter some bass tracks I’d already recorded for another project as well as an original track with audio recorded specifically for that file. Everything hummed along well, and being able to integrate Reason’s effects with live audio tracks was a great experience. The Line 6 amps included with Record were also pretty good, although I get the feeling the amp models were limited in the beta software. I’d expect the full version to have more options. Otherwise, the audio routing worked just as you’d expect Reason to function, and I was able to get tracks up and running quite quickly.

Record is targeted squarely at individual music-makers who want to work in live audio with their Reason tracks, and those tracks will probably stay in the box until they’re sent off for mastering. Using Reason and Record is an insular experience simply because of the proprietary nature of the software and the lack of plug-in support. It’s a solid musical experience, though, and it’s one I can see myself using quite a bit in the future. It’s not Pro Tools or Logic, but it’s a solid option for audio recording and creating tracks that sound bigger than the individual creating them.

EDIT: You’ll also need a big monitor. Record uses several different windows (mixer, rack, etc.), and a wide screen is necessary to see everything effectively. Small laptops need not apply.

Radio Radio hosts the Ophof Memorial Benefit this Sunday at 2pm. The musical acts feature Stockwell Road, Crown Hill Diggers, BJ Rogers Night Stars, Harley Poe, and Boneyard Elixirs.

Deano’s Vino has the Shirtless Biddles tonight and New Augusta tomorrow.

The Vollrath features the Cocaine Wolves, STATE, and Creepin’ Charley and the Boneyard Orchestra tonight. Saturday night brings a host of DJs and MCs, including the Thomas Crowne Affair, Grey Granite, Indiana Jones, and more.

And Maria’s Pizza has jazz tonight and tomorrow. Double toppings! Enjoy.

Download the episode here or listen at the site or WFYI.

Part of the magic of this podcast is that we managed to get Cannibal Corpse on WFYI’s HD2 channel. Sure, they listened to the track for profanity. Neither of us could find any. Then again, neither of us could really understand the lyrics at all. So there you go. Your pledge dollars at work.

The first? A veritable avalanche of Metalocalypse-related goodness. The video game and the longer episodes are intriguing but puzzling – can they sustain the brutal goodness over more time and different media? The new season and album are solid guarantees, though. And the tour promises an intriguing combination with an as-yet-unnamed partner. Bryan Beller (live bassist) promises they will crush.

Second, Propellerheads’ Record software is in open beta, and it sounds great so far. I’ll write more on my experience later, but I’ve come up with some interesting tracks with it, and it’s quite easy to work with. Combine it with Reason, and I dig it much.

Finally, there’s this Ropeadope sampler. I enjoyed a lot of their early releases from DJ Logic and the like, but the new crop sounds pretty good, too. Give it a shot – it’s free.

Aside from a little more practice time than I’m used to this weekend, the bass highlights come courtesy of a couple of live shows. The first was one I wish I could have made live – The Low Show at the Rutledge in Nashville, TN as part of the summer NAMM show. Bryan Beller, Doug Johns, and many more. Luckily, there’s a UStream feed that caught some of the performance for posterity – check it out here. Superb playing all around.

The other show was just down the street – Adrian Belew at Radio Radio. Most of my familiarity with Belew’s work comes from his time in King Crimson and the odd solo album I’d run across in the student radio station. This show found him accompanied by a powerhouse rhythm section with Julie Slick on and her brother Eric on drums. Brother Slick was a wonder, but it was Sister slick and her raw, muscular tone that stole the night for me. Effortless riffing and raw power – what a fantastic show. No live tape for this one, but see the show if it comes near you.